“I guess he's learned a lot in the last year,” said Federer, looking ahead to the Tomic match. “It's nice he's been able to turn it around after a tough end of the year, last year. It seems he's playing well. It’s obviously a difficult match-up in terms of [being] early in the tournament. But I've got to be ready, so I'm looking forward to the match.”

Sixth seed Juan Martin del Potro closed out a straight sets victory over Benjamin Becker with four straight aces to complete a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win in one hour and 44 minutes. It was his ninth straight win over a German player. Del Potro, who struck 22 aces and 50 winners, has lost to Federer in the quarter-finals in 2009 and 2012.

“I'm very confident with my serve, with my size, with my movement” said del Potro. “I think all the taller players are very dangerous on this kind of surface.”

When asked if he would serve and volley, the Argentine said, “I like to make winners from the baseline. I'm working on my volley, but I'm confident playing on the baseline with forehands and backhands. But I know the way to beat the top guys is going to the net all the time.”